THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
Sean Falconer
THE ED ’ S DESK the ed ’ s desk by SEAN FALCONER
All Athletes Count !
In January , I saw a press release that Athletics South Africa had announced its ASA Athlete of the Year Awards for 2023 , and that the Male Athlete of the Year and Female Athlete of the Year winners are Adriaan Wildschutt and Marione Fourie respectively . Adriaan broke three SA Records for 3000m , 5000m and 10,000m , and finished 14th in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Budapest , while Marione broke the SA Record for the 100m hurdles and reached the semi-final round of her event in Budapest .
Now , in my opinion , there is no argument that these two athletes deserve recognition from the national federation for their achievements in 2023 , but when one looks at the proverbial bigger picture of the ASA awards , I find myself questioning the national federation ’ s approach . This is because , out of the 16 award winners that ASA listed , my count shows that 12 went to track and field athletes or officials , one to cross country , and three to road running , and two of the road running awards look like add-ons , anyway . ( I ’ ll explain why shortly .)
In my humble opinion , I think ASA ’ s outlook is very much focused on track and field first , with road running coming in a somewhat distant second , cross country featuring somewhere in that zone as well , while trail running simply does not feature at all . I know there is a historical , traditional reason for track and field being seen as the number one discipline of the general sport of athletics , but I also think times have changed , and ASA ’ s outlook , and its awards , are now very lopsided .
A Biased Outlook ?
What caught my eye is that two of those road awards are Platinum Awards for Tete Dijana and Gerda Steyn , which raises still more questions for me . After all ,
Gerda broke both the Two Oceans and Comrades course records and then set another SA Record for the marathon , while Tete ran a World Record for 50km and then clocked the fastest ever Comrades Down Run . Are these achievements not deserving of Athlete of the Year awards as well , instead of what looks more like an ‘ add-on ’ special category to try to ‘ cover ’ what is the largest participation division of the sport ?
I also couldn ’ t help noticing ASA ’ s own choice of wording in the opening line of their media release : “ South Africa ’ s top performing road runners , and track and field stars , were recognised for their efforts during the 2023 season by receiving well-deserved accolades at the annual ASA Awards ...” So , for starters , no mention of cross country , even though it has the same ( equal ) status as an official code ( commission ) within the sport , alongside road and track & field .
Furthermore , no mention of trail running whatsoever , even though there are now hundreds of trail running events taking place each year across the country , and ASA selected an official team of trail athletes to compete at the 2023 World Mountain and Trail Championships in Austria . I know this is a grey area , as trail running has largely remained unaffiliated to ASA , and the national federation considers trail running a sub-division of cross country ( a debate for another day ), but South Africa has world class trail athletes who are performing well on the world stage , and they do not even get a general mention by the national federation .
Balanced Approach
I want to stress this point : I am most definitely not saying that Adriaan and Marione do not deserve Athlete of the Year awards , but I do think it is highly questionable that so many of the national federation ’ s awards went to track and field athletes . Wouldn ’ t it be better to have an ASA Road Athlete of the Year category , and an ASA Track & Field Athlete of the Year category ? And furthermore , an ASA Cross Country Athlete of the Year category … and most definitely an ASA Trail Running Athlete of the Year ! You could still then have an overall ASA Athlete of the Year Award , but I feel that road should not be made to look like also-rans in the national federation awards , and cross country and trail should be given equal billing .
Awards
MODERN ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
And this brings me full circle to this edition of our magazine , with the inaugural Modern Athlete of the Year Awards , where we have actually done just that ! We have tried to recognise all four divisions of the sport , even sub-divided them where we think appropriate , because we believe that all our athletes are deserving of recognition , not just the main focus area of the national federation . I will be the first to admit that this is our first attempt at track and field and cross country awards , so those areas can be developed more in next year ’ s awards , but I still think our awards present a better idea of the sport of running in SA . I hope you will agree .
Sean Falconer
Image : Chris Hitchcock
4 ISSUE 166 | www . modernathlete . co . za